A Preview of Denver's April Weather - Something for Everyone

April marks a transition between winter and summer for most of the country but for Denver it is especially true as we can see a stunning variety of weather. The proverbial April showers are certainly a possibility for Denver. Snow? Tornadoes? Thunderstorms? You bet - all can happen! For good measure throw in a chance for hail and even dust storms and April gives every type of weather condition you could like - or hate.

The good news is that sunshine and warmer temperatures are usually in abundance as the normal highs during the month move up from 58 degrees on the first to 66 degrees on the 30th. It is not unusual to have a number of days well into the 70's and the low 80's.

We also see the normal lows move above freezing from 30 degrees at the start of the month to 37 degrees by the end.

Temperature extremes can hit both ends of the spectrum with a record low of 2 degrees below zero on April 2, 1975 and a record high of 90 degrees on April 30, 1992.

In terms of the extremes and severe weather we can see, at this time of year Denver can be hit from every direction with a wide variety of air masses.

Cold can be brought on when Arctic air invades from the north and that can then team up with Pacific storms to produce snow. Warmer temperatures and low humidity too can happen when warm, dry air from the desert southwest invade Colorado. Thunderstorms can be generated when warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico moves into the area.

For snow lovers, April still gives us a good chance of the white stuff for it is our fifth snowiest month averaging 6.8 inches. The snowiest April was in 1933 when we received 33.8 inches of snow during the month. Way back on April 22 - 23, 1885, Denver was hit with 23 inches of snow, the most for a 24 hour period in April.

We are also reminded that we live on the wide open plains as it is our windiest month with an average speed of 10 miles per hour from the south. Typically we will have two thunderstorms in April and there is always the chance of severe thunderstorms which historically can include hail, severe damaging winds and / or tornadoes.

April 2001 brought on a reminder of the potential for severe winter weather when on the 10th and 11th a storm produced blizzard like conditions and 10 inches of snow was dumped on the former Stapleton International Airport site. Across the metro area heavy snow was recorded including 18 inches in southeast Aurora with 5 foot drifts, 16 inches with 3 foot drifts in Parker, 10 inches in Lafayette, 9 in Westminster and 8 in Littleton. But, as is typical in Colorado, by the 12th the sun had come out and the snow melted away quickly.

April showers are also common as was seen in 2007 when we set a 24 hour rain record. Between April 23rd and 24th of that year, 2.1 inches of rainfall was recorded at DIA obliterating the old record of 1.29 inches that was set way back in 1891. Further north here in Thornton we recorded a bit more precipitation over the same period with 2.32 inches of rain. Normally Denver receives 1.93 inches for the entire month! Were it not for that storm, the month would have been a very dry one as a mere 0.4 inches of rain fell otherwise in Thornton.

The latest long term outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center would portend a cooler than normal April for us. The agency gives us above average chances of seeing below normal temperatures for the month. In terms of precipitation, the CPC doesn't indicate any particular direction with equal chances of above, below and at normal levels of precip.